When Your Headache Starts in Your Neck
- Ihr Praxis Team ACH
- May 27
- 2 min read
For headache patients, the pattern is familiar: mid-afternoon, after hours at a screen. Or first thing in the morning before you've done anything. A pulling sensation at the base of the skull that slowly climbs upward. Sometimes it reaches the temple. Sometimes it settles behind one eye or ear.
You take something. It helps. Until tomorrow.
What many people don't know: this headache often isn't coming from the head at all. It's coming from the neck.
Cervicogenic headache — a headache from the neck
The upper segments of the cervical spine — C1, C2, C3 — share a convergence point in the spinal cord with the trigeminal nerve, the nerve responsible for pain in the head and face. When these segments are restricted, compressed by tight musculature, or irritated, the signals are perceived as headache.
This is called cervicogenic headache. It's common. It's frequently missed, and it responds very well to targeted treatment of the cervical spine. In particular: chiropractic adjustments.
Bryans et al. summarised in an evidence-based clinical guideline (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2011): chiropractic spinal manipulation is a recommended treatment for cervicogenic headache, tension-type headache — and, in combination with other approaches, even migraine.
What about migraine?
Migraine is its own neurological disorder, but it often has a cervical component. Many migraine patients report that neck stiffness precedes or accompanies their attacks, almost like a trigger. That's not coincidence.
In a randomised controlled trial (Tuchin et al., JMPT, 2000), over 80% of migraine participants reported significant improvement following chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy — in frequency, intensity, and medication use. That isn't a cure for migraine as a neurological condition. But it is a meaningful improvement in quality of life.
Föhn, weather, and Munich
Living in Munich means knowing what a Föhn wind brings. For many people, a feeling of pressure in the head, or outright headaches. Barometric pressure changes can sensitise the trigemino-vascular system, which means this isn't your imagination. It's your physiology.
Sadly, no chiropractic adjustment can change the weather...
But what chiropractic can do is make the system more resilient. Better cervical mobility, reduced baseline muscle tension, improved neuromuscular control — this raises the threshold at which a weather trigger becomes a headache.
What happens at American Chiropractic Haus
Our chiropractors sometimes see up to 50 cases of headaches per week.
That means we spend a lot of time differentiating between the many types of headaches people can have. Whether it comes from the jaw, the neck, the shoulders, stress or something else, we're prepared to do a full inspection and plan a course of care that's unique to your needs.
Our specialist Christin Maskus works with many patients with cervicogenic headaches and migraine. Assessment quickly reveals whether the cervical spine is involved — and if so, which segments. Treatment is targeted, not generic.
No referral is necessary. Same-week appointments in Munich-Bogenhausen are often available.
→ Full information on headache types, treatment phases, red flags, and the Föhn phenomenon: Headaches & Migraine Munich
→ Pricing and insurance: Prices
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